Things to do on a rainy day

Indoor places that still make a good day out when the monsoon sets in.

Bagbazar

Sister Nivedita’s House: The lane house where an Irish woman opened a school for girls in 1898.

Hatibagan

Star Theatre: The most famous stage of the Bengali public theatre.
Minerva Theatre: An 1893 playhouse on Beadon Street that still stages plays.

Jorasanko & Chitpur

Jorasanko Thakur Bari: The house where Rabindranath Tagore was born and died.
Marble Palace: A merchant prince’s mansion crammed with European art.
Swami Vivekananda’s Ancestral House: The restored house where Narendranath Datta was born in 1863.

College Street

Indian Coffee House: The high-ceilinged hall where Bengal’s writers and students argue over coffee.
Asutosh Museum of Indian Art: The first university museum in India, devoted to the art of eastern India.

Entally

Mother House: Where Mother Teresa lived, worked and is buried.

BBD Bagh (Dalhousie)

General Post Office: A domed post office on the site of the first Fort William.
Metcalfe Hall: A colonnaded hall of the 1840s facing the river.
Currency Building: An Italianate banking hall of 1833, rescued from demolition.

Esplanade & New Market

New Market (Hogg Market): A Victorian market hall of 1874 with a clock tower.
Kolkata Yellow Taxi: The yellow Ambassador cab, as much a symbol of the city as Howrah Bridge.
Under-the-Hooghly Metro Ride: Ride India’s first metro under a river, from Esplanade to Howrah.

Park Street

Flurys: The 1927 tea room on Park Street.
Oxford Bookstore: A Park Street bookshop that has been open since 1920.
Indian Museum: India’s oldest and largest museum, founded in 1814.

Maidan & Chowringhee

Birla Planetarium: A domed planetarium of 1963, modelled on the Sanchi stupa.
Academy of Fine Arts: Galleries and the stage that is the home of Bengali group theatre.
Nandan & Rabindra Sadan: The state film centre and concert hall, heart of the city’s cultural evening.
Nehru Children’s Museum: The Ramayana and Mahabharata told in miniature clay models.

Bhawanipur

Netaji Bhawan: The house from which Subhas Chandra Bose made his great escape.

Alipore

National Library of India: The country’s largest library, in the grounds of Belvedere House.

Ballygunge & Gariahat

Birla Industrial & Technological Museum: India’s first science museum, with a walk-in coal mine.
Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture: A cultural institute at Golpark with a library, a museum and evening talks.

Lake Gardens & Southern Avenue

Birla Academy of Art & Culture: An art museum and galleries on Southern Avenue.

Behala

State Archaeological Museum: West Bengal’s own archaeology museum, on Diamond Harbour Road.

Barisha

Sabarna Sangrahashala: The family museum of the zamindars who once held Calcutta.

Thakurpukur & Joka

Gurusaday Museum: A museum of Bengal’s folk art: kantha, scrolls, dolls and terracotta.

Beliaghata

Gandhi Bhawan (Hyderi Manzil): The house where Gandhi fasted to stop the riots of 1947.

New Town

Mother’s Wax Museum: A wax museum opposite Eco Park.
Rabindra Tirtha: New Town’s cultural centre devoted to Tagore.
Nazrul Tirtha: A striking concrete cultural centre named for Kazi Nazrul Islam.

Barrackpore

Gandhi Smarak Sangrahalaya: A museum of Gandhi’s life and his work in Bengal.

More ways to explore Kolkata

Last checked on 2026-10-02. Each place was checked to exist and its position confirmed. Timings, closing days and ticket prices are shown only where known and can change: confirm before you travel.